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Melvin Lau did not start De Woodscape with an interest in woodwork. In fact, his academic background in accounting and hospitality are worlds away from his current occupation. The Dutch entrepreneur co-founded the firm three years ago with his Indonesian wife, Novia Kiang, after receiving a fortuitous business opportunity with a furniture manufacturer.

The company started as a store that sold custom-made furniture using wooden slabs imported from Indonesia. Shortly after, the couple decided to do the treatment and finishing processes in-house to ensure the optimal quality of each product; they also recently opened a factory in Indonesia which oversees the wood drying process. Lau’s Singaporean cousin, Marcus Ho, joined the company this year as its operations manager.

The wooden slabs used by De Woodscape are reclaimed lumber sourced from Indonesia and Singapore. Varieties available include tembusu, rosewood, suar wood, mahogany, teak and juniper as well as black walnut from the US; the firm hopes to import more varieties of wooden slabs in the near future.

After treating hundreds of wooden slabs, Lau started experimenting on the decorative uses of epoxy resin on wood by pouring the liquid resin into the cracks and splits in the wooden slab to create river-like streaks. A timely request from a customer gave Lau the opportunity to use the technique when he commissioned a custom-made dining table.

Intrigued by the successful result, Lau’s interest in the medium grew. “Ever since then, I have been addicted to creating epoxy resin tables,” shares Lau. “And the amazing part of this is that the customer can get heavily involved in the creative process, from choosing the wood and colour to the position of the epoxy resin, a process that can’t be replicated with factory-made products.”

De Woodscape is located at 221 Henderson Road, #01-06 Henderson Building